


Rose

by Marmeladeskies



Series: The Mighty Kids [2]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Baby Beau, Bad Parenting, Beau's childhood, Beau's past, Childhood, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kid Fic, market, raise your hands for tiny lesbians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 17:01:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21901780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marmeladeskies/pseuds/Marmeladeskies
Summary: A glimpse into Beau's childhood.
Relationships: Beauregard Lionett & Beauregard Lionett's Mother, Beauregard Lionett & Original Female Character(s), Beauregard Lionett & Thoreau Lionett
Series: The Mighty Kids [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1577653
Comments: 4
Kudos: 67





	Rose

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy! There's mentions of abusive behaviour towards a child, so please be mindful of that.

Beau hated her dress and she hated how the bow in her hair gave her a headache, and she hated that she had to go out with Mother today. She would much rather play in the gardens. But Mother said she wasn’t allowed to do that, because she always managed to get her good dresses dirty. 

Beau had suggested they shouldn’t make her wear good dresses then, but Mother hadn’t liked that idea very much. 

So now she was walking alongside Mother, whose face was powdered heavily to make it appear whiter. Beau didn’t know why she did that, but she had learned not to ask too many questions about why grown-ups did things in general. 

“Beauregard, stop dragging your feet like this!” Mother gave her arm a hard tug. “If you don’t lift your feet, people will think you’re a cripple!”

Beau rolled her eyes when Mother wasn’t looking.

They only ever went to the part of the market that was less dirty and smelled nicer and had less animals and more fine fabrics. Beau thought it was really boring, but at least it distracted Mother well enough. Well enough, actually, for Beau to sneak away. 

When Mother was talking silk prices with a merchant who looked a bit like an exotic bird, decked out in so many different colors, Beau quietly brought some distance between her and her mother. 

She was really good at sneaking.

It was easy, once she had waited for the right moment, she just had to duck behind a thick width of fabric, and then out of the stall, and then she was free. 

-

It was easy enough to find the more interesting part of the market; Beau simply followed her nose. 

There was a thick layer of dirt and animal poop on the ground, and Beau thought that her polished shoes looked much better coated in it, anyway. 

The further she went, the more interesting things became: the people, the stalls, the goods. There were exotic spices that smelled like fire, weird animals in different size cages, colorful flowers, food that looked deliciously unidentifiable, and so many awesome-looking people.

Beau stopped at every stand she could, looking at everything, touching everything, taking in as much as she could. This was so much cooler than sitting at home with her tutors! Maybe this was even cooler than playing in the gardens.

“Hello, darling.” A pleasant voice made her look up from a wooden toy she was inspecting. It was some kind of puzzle, maybe magic. However, she forgot all about it when she saw the person speaking to her: a lady, human, young, with two thick, auburn braids down her shoulders, lips as red as candy apples and eyes as blue as the sky. “Are you here all alone?” 

Beau had to swallow before she was able to speak- this lady looked like the prettiest mermaid from one of her books! Beau wondered if she was a mermaid. There was no way to see her legs, so Beau probably had to live with the mystery. For now. Looking at the lady’s face was fine, too. 

“...I ran away from my mother.”, she confessed, no trace of shame in her voice.

The lady didn’t scold her, though, instead she just laughed. It sounded like wind chimes. Beau could feel herself blush a little. “That’s a little naughty.” 

Beau shrugged. “I am a naughty child.” That’s what Father always said, at least. 

That pulled another laugh from the woman, even more cheerful this time. “That’s not hard to believe, somehow.” Her smile made pride bloom in Beau’s chest.

“What do you sell?” She pointed to one of the puzzles. 

“The puzzle? It can be used to hide messages to people. Messages you only want certain people to see.”, the lady explained.

“Like, a secret?” Beau eyed the box carefully. The lady nodded. “...is it magic?”

“Yes, it’s magic.”

“Are you a witch?” Beau took another, closer look at the lady. Father always said witches were bad and not to be trusted. This lady looked really nice, though. And pretty. 

“I’m an enchantress.”, the lady explained. She had really nice teeth, Beau noticed. “Do you want me to show you some magic?” 

Father would hate this, so of course Beau quickly said “Yes!”.

The lady gave her a slightly mischievous smile, and held out her hand. “Put your hand on top of mine.” 

Beau reached out quickly and did as she was told. 

There was a brief flash of warmth, and then she could feel something soft against her palm. 

When she pulled her hand away, she revealed a the head of a rose, black like Beau’s hair, with thick and shiny petals. 

“Ohhh!” 

“Here, it’s a gift.” The lady gently placed it into Beau’s upturned palm. 

Beau cradled it in her hand. She actually didn’t like flowers much, but this one was pretty nice. “That’s really cool.”, she said with awe in her voice.

“Well, I’m happy you like it.” The lady gave Beau a wink.

“BEAUREGARD!” The furious voice of her mother made Beau jump.

She cursed under her breath, using a word bad enough to elicit a shocked laugh from the shopkeeper lady, and quickly stuffed the rose into her pocket. 

Before Beau could flee, her mother had already waltzed into the stall like fury herself, and grabbed Beau’s arm, pointy nails digging into Beau’s skin. Beau immediately started complaining, but her mother just pulled her away, not even giving the shopkeeper a look- her mother always thought she was above people like her. 

“How  _ dare _ you run away!” Mother would never hit her in public, but Beau could tell she really wanted to. “Wait until your father hears about this! You’re an ungrateful little brat-” Mother dragged her out of the stall, going on and on, but Beau didn’t listen- she was more concerned about waving the pretty lady good bye. 

-

Later that night, Beau lay in bed, her right cheek hurting from the slap across her face she had received as soon as the door had closed behind them.

She didn’t care, though.

In her hand, the black rose was cradled, petals almost unsquished. Beau ran her fingertip across them, and thought of the pretty shop keeper. She wished she’d gotten her name. 

She decided to just call her Rose in her head. 

**Author's Note:**

> Comment to let me know what you think? :)


End file.
